A whale has come ashore, stranded at the end of the 16th century on the Dutch coast between Katwijk and Scheveningen. It is being examined, measured, and utilized. A significant event, not only because of the size of the marine creature that few have seen before. People flock to see the monster; some want to study it scientifically, while others are interested in it as a resource, as a supplier of blubber, spermaceti, and ambergris. The copper engraving by the well-known Dutch artist Jakob Matham is one of the early, very naturalistic depictions of a whale stranding and serves as a model for other artworks, paintings, and pamphlets. This widely circulated representation shapes the image of the whale for many people over a long period, transforming it from a monstrous fantasy creature into something more tangible.